Narcissism is not liberation
In her book Where the Girls Are: Growing up Female with the Mass Media, Susan Douglas tackles the subject of female representation in the media. Advertisers have successfully turned many women into narcissists by dictating the characteristics that supposedly make up an ideal woman. Through an onslaught of products that promise beauty and happiness, the overall mentality of our culture has become predominantly materialistic. Therefore, in chapter "Narcissism as Liberation" Douglas utilizes scrutiny, empathy and sarcasm to persuade and enlighten her reader to the danger of narcissistic behavior that stems from manipulative advertising. Starting at the beginning of the selection, advertising is immediately introduced with Cybill Shephered's hair commercial yelling "I'm worth it" . One of Douglas' initial goals is to bring advertisers perfect, flawless displays under close examination. According to her, much of the narcissism we see today can be attributed to "Americas multibazillion-dollar cosmetic industry realizing that all those kids who once bought Clearasil and Stri-Dex were now getting something even worse than acne - wrinkles"1. With this information advertisers switched their focus from a
One aspiration that many women share is a desire to be beautiful inside and out. Often it is believed that with beauty come feelings of acceptance, confidence and even some forms of happiness. Unfortunately for the majority "a desirable woman doesn't look lie a real woman looks; thus, one of the basic physical markers of femaleness is cast as hideous" . Consequently, what the world views as beauty is almost impossible to abstain. Susan Douglas recognizes this common-ground that many women walk on and uses it in "Narcissism as Liberation" to empathize as a fellow frustrated sister. She ecumenically declares "I'm tired of the endless self-flagellation we women subject ourselves to because of the way this latest, unattainable physical ideal has been combined with the yuppie work ethic" . Displaying the same type of emotions and sediments immediately works to draw her into the confidence of women who feel the same way, while at the same time giving validity to her words. ! One aspiration that many women share is a desire to be beautiful inside and out. Often it is believed that with beauty come feelings of acceptance, confidence and even some forms of happiness. Unfortunately for the majority "a desirable woman doesn't look lie a real woman looks; thus, one of the basic physical markers of femaleness is cast as hideous" . Consequently, what the world views as beauty is almost impossible to abstain. Susan Douglas recognizes this common-ground that many women walk on and uses it in "Narcissism as Liberation" to empathize as a fellow frustrated sister. She ecumenically declares "I'm tired of the endless self-flagellation we women subject ourselves to because of the way this latest, unattainable physical ideal has been combined with the yuppie work ethic" . Displaying the same type of emotions and sediments immediately works to draw her into the confidence of women who feel the same way, while at the same time giving validity to her words. ! Starting at the beginning of the selection, advertising is immediately introduced with Cybill Shephered's hair commercial yelling "I'm worth it" . One of Douglas' initial goals is to bring advertisers perfect, flawless displays under close examination. According to her, much of the narcissism we see today can be attributed to "Americas multibazillion-dollar cosmetic industry realizing that all those kids who once bought Clearasil and Stri-Dex were now getting something even worse than acne - wrinkles"1. With this information advertisers switched their focus from a wide variety of products to those which primarily dealt with appearance. It is on this premises that Douglas calls into question the authority advertisers have to make women feel as if the y must look a certain way. This inquiry cast a gray cloud of suspicion over advertising motives that once seemed so pure in female consumer's eyes. Women can't help but wonder what truly determines the beauty that is so covet! Proverbs 31:30 says, "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised"5. From the Biblical standpoint, beauty in appearance has no real importance. It lasts for only a short time for those who have it and then it's gone. Things like Godliness, wisdom, and character are what's really worth while in the end. All Christians in this materialistic day and age have to be careful to keep their eye fixed above instead of on the fleeting pleasures of this world. The Russian writer Marina Tsvetaeva once said " sarcasm is the best way to attract attention so you can then make your point more efficiently" . It seems Douglas took that into consideration when deciding how to present her views in "Narcissism as Liberation". Using clever language and intonation she creates a sharp weapon with which to take covert jabs at the armor of advertisers and narcissists. In order to point out many people's gullibility to cosmetic ads she comments, "It wasn't enough to
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Approximate Word count = 3551
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page double spaced)
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